1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pallet assembly and in particular to a pallet assembly for use in a truck, trailer or other vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
When shipping large quantities of flat articles such as carpets for home or automotive use, the usual practice is to load the carpets onto wooden pallets in a factory, and to place the pallets with their loads in a truck or trailer for transport to their destination. The pallets must then be returned to the factory for re-use. Wooden pallets are expensive to produce and are often damaged during use. Moreover, the use of wooden pallets involves the additional expense of returning the pallets to the carpet factory. Accordingly, it is readily apparent that a need exists for a solution to these problems, i.e. there is a need for a shipping device to be used with flat articles which is not separate from the vehicle used to transport the articles from place to place.
A search of the patent literature discloses examples of devices which, at least in theory, could be used to obviate the need for separate pallets when shipping flat articles. Devices of the type in question are disclosed, for example by Canadian Patent No. 760,292 issued to A. M. Hand on Jun. 6, 1967, and laid open application Ser. No. 2,013,980, filed by C. Gianguido on Oct. 14, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,606,508, issued to N. J. Van Nes on Aug. 12, 1952; U.S. Pat. No. 3,151,754, issued to J. H. Kemp on Oct. 6, 1964; U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,552, issued to G. E. Thiele on Jan. 1, 1968; U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,791, issued to C. L. R. Larson on Oct. 8, 1968; U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,053, issued to S. Yatagai et al on Sep. 9, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,017, issued to H. Tlyota et al on Mar. 22, 1977 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,415, issued to T. Hayashi on Jan. 21, 1992. Some of the patented apparatuses are ill adapted for use on trucks as a truck bed, while others of the apparatus are somewhat complicated in terms of both structure and operation.